The following essay was submitted by Erika Lloyd to answer the following question. It is from my recent World Literature 1 summer course and provides an example of a solid and thoughtful essay that incorporates lecture and discussion with a firm grasp of the texts considered.
The question:
Discuss the term “evil” and how it is applied to women in at least three of the works we read for this semester. What is the role of the “evil woman” in these works?
Ms. Lloyd’s answer:
The word “evil” is often used in epic poetry. Mostly, the word connotes a lack of thought and decision. If something, such as a woman, is evil, then the culture does not have to think about the implications of actions taken towards the person or thing. “Evil” then becomes a term to excuse actions taken against people or things that went against the beliefs of the culture. The Greeks at the time of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and Euripides’ Medea were in a patriarchal society. The women who did not succumb to the patriarchal society and live in dominion of a man were therefore, termed “evil” and in order to excuse actions taken against the woman and prevent the other women from doing the same things.
In the Iliad, Helen is the archetypical “evil” woman by the standards of her time. Helen leaves her husband to live with Paris from the Trojans, which starts the Trojan War. She is the excuse needed for the Achaeans to wage a war against Troy. She is described as evil by many of the characters in the play because Helen committed infidelity with Paris. She steps out of her role as a mother, wife and Queen in the patriarchal society to further her own whims and seek love. This act is unacceptable by the culture, because men are the highest authority of the home. When Helen chooses to leave and commit infidelity, she is directly opposing the male authority in the patriarchal society. Since the men of the time can not have women doing as Helen did, they say Paris “swept Helen off, her famous Father’s child” instead of saying that Helen left of her own accord (6. 212). The men also describe her as “evil” in order to ward off this act of self-fulfillment of the women, by Helen’s example. Hector’s wife, Andromache, is given a higher position in the next passage when she is described as “his loyal wife” which serves to further the patriarchal value by juxtaposing Andromache and Helen.
Another woman, Circe from the Odyssey, serves to further this idea of the patriarchy. Circe is described as “evil” or as a witch, simply because she chooses to live alone in “an open glade” in a “wild wood” instead of in civilization under a man’s dominion (10. 224-5). When Odysseus’s men enter the “hall of Circe” they are amazed by the tame “wolves and mountain lions” lying in Circe’s hall (10. 223-4). The wolves and lions serve to further this idea of Circe being “evil” because she has castrated them to make them tame. This act is unheard of by the patriarchal society and is a blatant disrespect by Circe toward man’s dominion. This symbol of the male figure, castrated, serves to further the idea that Circe is a single woman living outside the male dominion, and therefore, the men term her “evil” and fear her. The men are scared of the lions and wolves not because the creatures are a threat but because the creatures are a symbolic representation of themselves, out of their typical role and under a female dominion. Circe serves in the story to show xenia, or hospitality, and to foil Penelope, Odysseus’ wife. When Circe turns Odysseus’ men into pigs because they act like pigs at her table, the act is not seen as Odysseus’ men violating xenia, but as Circe being “evil.” The term “evil” then is proven to connotate a lack of responsibility, or as an excuse, because Odysseus’ men refuse to take fault for being rude guests because Circe does not fit under the male, or their, dominion. Therefore by terming Circe “evil” the men have an excuse for their actions. Further along, the comparison of Circe and Penelope shows how different Penelope is from Circe in the male perspective. Penelope is a “good wife” because she fits under the patriarchal society and knows her place. Circe is not a good woman, but “evil” only because she desires to think and act for herself out from under the patriarchal society.
In Euripides’ Medea, Medea is the “evil” woman because she kills her children, kills Jason’s new wife, and runs off to live with another man. The idea of “motherhood” in a patriarchal society is why Medea is termed “evil.” The symbolic role of a mother is to care for her young in the patriarchal society, which Medea is a foil for when she kills her children. Jason describes Medea as “a monster not a woman, having a nature/ Wilder than that of Scylla, in the Tuscan sea” (lns. 1317-8). When Jason describes Medea as wild and full of rage, he is negatively viewing her as a male in the patriarchal society. Medea’s wild nature is not a fit attribute for a wife and mother under male dominion, and Jason further exemplifies this fact when he wishes he had married a less “destructive match” (ln. 1316). In Medea’s famous speech, she expresses the place of the woman in a patriarchal society and clearly says “women are the most unfortunate creatures” for “it is required for us to buy a husband and take for our bodies/ a master; for not to take one is even worse” (lns. 229-32). These lines are significant, for it shows the male view of women. Women have to take a “master” like a slave, for not to “take one is even worse.” Medea, Circe, and Helen are all trapped in this slavery, forced to take a husband, and not allowed to further their own whims. The irony is that Medea’s story would not be “evil” if she had been a man. Many male characters in the epic poems kill their children, such as Agamemnon when he kills his daughter as a sacrifice. In Medea’s case, the only difference is that she is a female in a patriarchal society.
Therefore, one can assume that “evil” in the epic poetry dictated a lack of thought and responsibility towards actions taken against the women who were deemed “evil.” All three women were only trying to make something of themselves and follow their own vices. The only reason they were termed “evil” is because the male attitude towards women in a patriarchal society demanded subjection by women. If women did not take male dominion, but instead lived under their own whims and vices, then when men acted out against them, the term “evil” served as an excuse for the men to do whatever they wanted without thinking. It also served as a cover-up so that other women would not want the freedom that Helen, Circe, and Medea had, and possibly do the same things.
Many thanks to Erika Lloyd for allowing me to reprint her essay.
